We Met at Midnight
by Sadistic Hufflepuff
Summary: Maira had never fit in with the other merpeople and Charlie Weasley is just about the biggest misfit there is.


**A/N Written for the QLFC**

 **Round:4**

 **Team:Cannons**

 **Position: Seeker**

 **Prompt: Write from the point of view of a merperson**

 **Word Count:1953**

 **(The song lyrics are from the wizard singer Celestina Warbeck, Mrs. Weasley's favorite singer.)**

* * *

I lived below the Black Lake for many human lifetimes. It was a surreal existence, watching the chaotic antics of the humans above, as the merpeople are a large society, dependent on routine. That bored me greatly.

There was also the fact that I did not fit in. I was rather short, about five and a half feet, had hair the color of the mud at the bottom of the lake, and I actually liked the humans. _The_ humans and their strange, chaotic ways were my only reprieve from the constant routine the merpeople kept so vigilantly and with such great joy.

These reprieves were few and far between, however. I could go decades without seeing a human being up close. It was simple really; the wizards were scared of us, and their parents would pass this fear down the generations. They would swim quite happily in the waters near the edge of the lake, where the merpeople could not venture without breaking the accord created by my ancestors and the founders of this school. But, every generation or so, there would be one, one brave little wizard that swam out of the safe zone and into colder waters.

Whenever a human did find themselves in the waters of the merpeople, it was often a young male child, though one or two females of their kind had ventured out and been quite daring on occasion, and they never stayed for long. My kind was not allowed to kill theirs, and on some occasions, such as during the tournaments, we were even forced to cooperate with them. We were, however, allowed to scare them. It usually didn't take much to send them running back to their castle above the water.

There was one time that was different to normal. It started off just like things usually did when one of them got brave, with a sentinel spotting someone sneaking away from the castle in the darkness of the night.

I was feeling particularly bored that night, so I sent the sentinel away by promising that if the wizard passed into our waters I would scare them away. This time, it was one of the older boys, I had seen him at the lake for years and knew it would be his last one spent in the castle. He did not even have to get close to the water before I was able to determine who he was. His carroty red hair and pale complexion gave it away instantly.

The boy made his way to the water's edge and stopped for a moment before stepping in, letting his eyes roam over the dark lake. My head had been above the water so that I could watch him walk down to toward the lake, but I quickly ducked my head down. Humans are very interesting in many ways, but my favorite was always the way they got around. I always wanted to be able to walk around as they did, to have _feet._

If I had feet like a human, I could leave the Black Lake and never return. That was my greatest wish; to walk out of the water and to go live as a human. It was not something I shared with anyone, until that night.

The red-haired boy eased himself into the cold water and swam around close to the bank for a few minutes, adjusting to the chill that set over the lake as winter approached. It almost seemed as if I had nothing to worry about and the boy had just decided to go for a late-night swim at the banks, but then he began to swim into deeper water getting closer and closer to the barrier that marked the merpeoples waters—a large rock that stood up above the waves, even in the depths we lived in.

I swam along the barrier and watched as the boy approached, getting clearer and clearer and occasionally swimming to the surface for air. The boy eventually came within feet of the rock which I could not pass. He gave me a very cheerful grin and waved before surfacing and swimming above the water to the rock.

I immediately realized he knew it as a barrier when he grabbed on to it and did not let go. Looking around it, he stared at me with the same curiosity I felt for him.

He remained buoyed to the rock and we continued to watch each other for a long time before something changed our situation.

Eventually, the wizard child spoke. "Hello."

He surprised me by speaking, not one wizard child had ever spoken to a merperson in my lifetime. I smiled, excited at the thought of talking to a human. I opened my mouth to reply but the only sound that escaped was the loud screeching sound my voice made above water.

The boy cringed at the sound and I gave him a very apologetic look. I did, however, relish the thought of speaking to one of his kind and devised a plan. I pointed down—there was only one way we were going to have this conversation. We both swam below the surface.

"Hello, my name is Maira," I said with a smile, and the boy waved.

He swam above the waves and I followed. "My name is Charlie."

We continued this for hours; talking about our lives and getting to know each other. The waves kept up a steady pace as we went. We continued to meet in the middle of the night and talk every night until he left the castle where he went to school. This time for good. In the time we spent talking, I learned so much about him.

Charlie told me of his large family, and his love for dragons, and how he wanted to go to Romania to train them after school. By the end of the year, I knew exactly how he wanted his life to go. I supported him, though I knew I'd miss him.

I knew, however, that there was a chance I would get to see him again. Before he left the castle after his graduation, Charlie made me a promise. He told me that he would search for a way for me to leave the Black Lake and go to Romania with him as he knew leaving the lake was what I had always wanted.

* * *

It was eight years before he finally came back, and terrible things had happened to the castle in that time. I bore witness to so much death and destruction over those years. Charlie had returned to join the celebration the castle was hosting a year after the fighting had ended and to honor those who had died.

He arrived early in the morning, but due to all the chaos that came from so many people coming together there was no opportunity to meet so we stayed true to the way things had been when he was in school. In the dead of the night, Charlie found his way out to the Black Lake.

He sat a bag down on the bank and took a moment to draw a deep breath before peeling his shirt off and jumping in. He made his way out to the rock, where I sat waiting.

"Maira," he breathed as he secured himself to the rock. "I found it. I've found a spell to make you a human, you'd even live as long as me. How'd you like to go to Romania with me and stay for a hundred years?"

I disappeared under the water, knowing he would follow. "That is wonderful! When can you do the spell?"

Charlie shot up out of the water. "Right now!" He pulled his wand out of the waistband of his shorts.

He must have noticed the look I was giving him, because he quickly said, "Don't worry. I did an incantation on it, my wand will be fine. It didn't even get wet. But, uh, you should probably get a hold of the rock, legs are going to be hard to get used to."

I complied, and Charlie began to swish his wand around, muttering an incantation. Eventually, my tail began to split in half and transform into legs and even though it was the most painful thing I had experienced in my life, it felt like a burden had finally been lifted off me. I now had legs and feet and toes. I wiggled them, just to make sure. My gills had disappeared, I reached up and felt the smooth skin. I was human.

"Try speaking," Charlie urged me.

I open my mouth, but instead of the screeching I was accustomed to, out floated the song I had heard a girl singing as she sat on the banks a few weeks before.

" _Oh, my poor heart, where has it gone?_

 _It's left me for a spell_

 _But I don't mind, 'cause with you I find_

 _I'm always feeling well..._

 _— two, three, four!_

 _You charmed the heart right out of me_

 _Don't need no broom, I'm flying free_

 _I think by now it's plain to see_

 _I'm nothing without you"_

"It worked!" Charlie exclaimed.

I smiled. "Yes, it appears so."

I made my way around the rock and did something I had wanted to do for many years; I wrapped my arms around Charlie with no plans of letting go anytime soon. It was a good thing I did so because the transformation process had attracted some of the merpeople, and they had finally recovered from their shock and were coming after me. They stopped when they reached the barrier and glared at me, but since they weren't able to cross the barrier, they eventually turned and swam away.

Charlie grinned down at me. "Let's go to the bank and you can try out your new legs on land."

I nodded and let go of him, aiming my body toward land. As I began to swim, the first few strokes proved difficult, but I soon picked up my old rhythm and I beat Charlie to the shore, even if I did keep forgetting that I needed to come up to the surface for air. I lounged in the shallow waters of the shore as I waited for him. When he did catch up, Charlie laced his fingers through mine and helped me step onto the muddy bank.

It took almost an hour before I was able to walk well enough to not need Charlie's support. After that, we stayed near the banks of the lake until it was nearly sunrise, strolling and catching each other up on the eight years we had spent apart. He had done so well at fulfilling his dreams.

It was while the sun was rising that he completely surprised me.

"You know," Charlie said, taking my hand, "If I'd actually let my wand get wet, I would have been a little scared of you. I guess being married to me, you might actually be able to keep me in line."

I gasped, and Charlie became instantly worried. "Oh no, do you not want to get married? I just assumed…"

"Of course I do!" I exclaimed. "You just surprised me because you never asked."

"Well then," Charlie sank down onto one knee. "Maira, I don't have a ring yet but would you do me the honor of putting up with me for the rest of our lives and be my wife?"

"Yes!" I threw myself on him, dotting his face with kisses, and we sank to the ground. It was clear in that moment that my time as a human would be just as amazing as I'd always imagined it would be.


End file.
